The Libertarian Party of New Mexico filed paperwork to name former governor Gary Johnson as its nominee for U.S. Senate.

The Secretary of State updated the listing of candidates to include Johnson Tuesday morning after the party filed at 9:30 on Monday, the office said. He will face incumbent Democrat Martin Heinrich and Republican contractor Mick Rich in the November general election.

The Libertarian Party of New Mexico Central Committee voted Johnson as its candidate earlier this month after State Land Commissioner Aubrey Dunn, the original nominee, withdrew from the race.

MCALLEN — Every afternoon, dozens of immigrant families released by the U.S. government walk three blocks from the Greyhound bus station in this South Texas border city to a migrant shelter run by Catholic Charities.

Along with the clothes slung over their shoulders, the migrants sometimes carry government-issued containers — dark-blue receptacles resembling lunch boxes, with plastic handles that shine in the mid-afternoon sun.

LAS CRUCES, N.M. — Groups advocating for the rights of children and families detained at the southern border are using the Freedom of Information Act to find out exactly where the Trump administration plans to build migrant detention centers on two military bases in the Southwest.

The centers are planned for Fort Bliss and Goodfellow Air Force Base to house immigrants until their cases are resolved.

]]>869086After the fires: What do we want?http://nmpoliticalreport.com/868484/after-the-fires-what-do-we-want-en/
Mon, 13 Aug 2018 06:05:52 +0000http://nmpoliticalreport.com/?p=868484

Matthew Hurteau spends a lot of time here on the eastern flank of the Jemez Mountains, checking on seedlings and dodging a sunburn. On a mid-July afternoon, rain drops from monsoon clouds in the valley south of us. But here, up above 7,000 feet, it’s sunny and hot.

Until recently, this craggy landscape was carpeted by a dense pine forest. But today, as we look across the thousands of acres where the 2011 Las Conchas fire burned at its hottest, we’re taking in a panoramic view of the Sangre de Cristos to the north and Cochiti Reservoir and the Sandia Mountains down the Rio Grande Valley.

On Sunday, former governor Jerry Apodaca, a Democrat, endorsed Steve Pearce for governor. Pearce is the Republican nominee.

In an Albuquerque Journal op-ed, Apodaca did not mention any of Pearce’s policies. Rather, he wrote that Pearce responded to his request to speak with each of the candidates. He said he did not hear from Michelle Lujan Grisham, the Democratic candidate.

Apodaca’s son, Jeff Apodaca, lost in the Democratic primary to Lujan Grisham, receiving just 22 percent of the vote.

A visitor heading down NM-128 to Jal would be forgiven for believing there were more people driving pickups and equipment trucks on the congested state highway than living in the small oil patch town of just over 2,100 people.

Jal is an old ranching community — JAL was the brand of the John A. Lynch herd, brought to the area by settlers in the early 1800s — but today, oil is its economic engine.

When drilling wells, operators inject chemicals, sand and water underground to create fissures that help move oil and natural gas to the wellhead more efficiently. That practice of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, uses a lot of water. And it leaves behind a lot of water, too.

In 2015, even before the Permian Basin really started booming, industry produced 900 million barrels of wastewater.

Gary Johnson, the Libertarian Party of New Mexico nominee for U.S. Senate, is still mum on whether he will run. But, that hasn’t stopped supporters and political adversaries from chiming in on his candidacy.

Johnson has yet to even launch a campaign, but some of his supporters are calling for his possible Republican opponent, Mick Rich, to drop out of the race. Those supporters say internal polling suggests with Rich out of the picture, Johnson would win in a head-to-head race against U.S.